To Heaven and Back Again: Why God is Silent

Why God is Silent video

A popular 1980s Garth Brooks’ song says:

“Sometimes I thank God for unanswered prayers
Remember when you're talkin' to the man upstairs
That just because he doesn't answer doesn't mean he don't care
Some of God's greatest gifts are unanswered prayers.”

Though this is not a “Church” song, the lyrics really speak to a topic that affects many Christians. When we pray, God doesn’t seem to answer. When the situation is important to our hearts, this silence may compromise our relationship with our Heavenly Father and how we perceive Him. In order to hear from God, it helps to know why God is sometimes silent. If we don’t understand this, bitterness and disbelief may creep into our hearts.

We see through a plethora of Bible stories that God speaks to select individuals, regardless of the state of their relationship with Him or their sin: Abraham, Moses, and Paul are three of the most well-known. Why doesn’t He speak to more people? I needed to know about free will, Satan, judgment, and the attributes of God to fully understand this concept. Of these four, the judgment of God and who He is are the key components.

God is…

God is just:

He will pay back trouble to those who trouble you. (2 Thessalonians 1:6 NIV)

God is love, yes, but God is also just. The Bible refers to Him as the Just Judge. Being just means being fair. Knowing this is critical to knowing why God speaks to some people and not to others.

The key to understanding why God doesn’t usually speak to us in demonstrative ways stems from the fact that many Christians do not believe that God judges them. Most Christians are familiar with the grace of God and believe that, as Christians, we are free of God’s judgment. Like most things, there is some truth in that, but we need to know the full truth.

Judgment from God

Let us establish a few things about Heaven so that we can better understand the concept of judgment:

God created man in His own image, in the image of God created He him… (Genesis 1:27 NASB)

While God created man in His image, in many translations it says we are “like God” but being like God doesn’t mean we are the same as God. It does mean that we share much in common with Him. A flower is like a tree: both need water and sunlight and both have leaves and roots. But a tree is much bigger, much grander than a flower and it can provide shade to flowers.

Since we are like God, doesn’t it make sense that Earth is “like” Heaven? Wouldn’t God put us in an environment similar to His? All accounts from people who have visited Heaven tell us that it resembles Earth, but it is just so much more.The Bible tells us that there is an organization to Heaven. His word literally talks of God’s court and Jesus as our advocate or counselor.

Courts of Heaven

Enter His gates with thanksgiving; go into His courts with praise. (Psalms 100:4 NLT)

Thus says the Lord of hosts, ‘If you will walk in My ways [that is, remain faithful] and perform My service, then you will also govern My house and have charge of My courts, and I will give you free access [to My presence] among these who are standing here. (Zechariah 3:7 AMP)

Many people assume that Psalms 100:4 is referring to a courtyard, an entryway into a dwelling. The Hebrew word used here could be translated to mean courtyard, playground, or king’s court. Isn’t courtyard usually a singular place? However, this usage of “courts” is plural meaning there are levels to the Courts of Heaven to be discussed in another book. This verse could also very well refer to a king’s court, like a courtroom. Regardless of where you stand on Psalms 100:4, there are additional verses that refer to God’s court and also refer to Him as Judge.

God is Judge

A stream of fire came forth from before Him; a thousand thousands ministered to Him and ten thousand times ten thousand rose up and stood before Him; the Judge was seated [the court was in session] and the books were opened. (Daniel 7:10 AMPC)

… and to the general assembly and assembly of the firstborn who are registered [as citizens] in heaven, and to God, who is Judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous (the redeemed in heaven) who have been made perfect [bringing them to their final glory]. (Hebrews 12:23 AMP)

These are just two of hundreds of verses that refer to God as Judge. This is a vital role in a kingdom. God never stepped down as Judge when Jesus came as Hebrews clearly shows.

Jesus is our Advocate

The Greek word paraklētos is defined as one who pleads another’s cause before a judge or a counsel for defense. It is used in the following verses:

…and to Jesus, the Mediator of a new covenant [uniting God and man], (Hebrews 12:24 AMP)

My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have an advocate with the Father—Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. (1 John 2:1 NIV)

Satan is the Adversary

The Hebrew word “Satan” literally means adversary or accuser, or in a courtroom setting, a prosecuting attorney.

Then I heard a strong (loud) voice in heaven, saying, now it has come—the salvation and the power and the kingdom (the dominion, the reign) of our God, and the power (the sovereignty, the authority) of His Christ (the Messiah); for the accuser of our brethren, he who keeps bringing before our God charges against them day and night... (Revelation 12:10 AMPC)

Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour. (1 Peter 5:8 KJV)

The Bible also tells us that we have been justified and saved from God’s wrath by the blood of Jesus. (Romans 5:9) However, just as we are saved by the blood, we have to accept it, claim it, and submit to His authority. We don’t get to go to Heaven because we recognize Jesus as the Son of God. Even the demons know this and they tremble at His name. (James 2:19) We have to accept Jesus as Lord, with the understanding that the word “lord” means owner. Likewise, we have to appropriate our justice by the blood of Jesus.

There are specific guidelines in the Bible about how to operate in the Courts of Heaven. I go into great detail about how these courts operate and how to be victorious every time in the courts through the blood of Jesus in “Destroying Curses in the Courts of Heaven.” Jesus took all the wrath of God upon Himself. However, He never said He destroyed the courts, only that we have victory through Him. Since the Courts of Heaven are still there, then judgments are still coming from God.

A Living Example

The judgment of God became crystal clear when I began to look into the life of a man of God, let us call him John, who had a strong gift for interpreting dreams and visions – he stopped counting the interpretations at 6,000. John also had a real gift for teaching.

Looking for everything I could find from his teachings, I discovered that he had recently passed away at the age of sixty-four from a rare form of cancer. “How could this be? His ministry prayed for hundreds, if not thousands who were instantly healed. He had been to Heaven twice; he had such amazing gifts! How could a sickness strike him down when the Bible tells us that it is God’s will for us to have a long, full life?”

With long life will I satisfy him, and show him My salvation. (Psalms 91:16 AKJV)

The thief comes not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly. (John 10:10 AKJV)

The Word of God clearly states it is God’s will for us to live a long life and that the enemy wants to take it from us. What had given the enemy access to such an anointed man of God? The Holy Spirit urged me to look into this. There were three items that revealed why John left at such an early age that explain such a judgment from God.

First

He was taken to Heaven and was placed before the throne of God. John explained that he spent minutes thrusting his hands out before him defensively, screaming “Aaaahhhh” in terror because of the tremendous power of God. When he returned, he railed at God for three days, “God, why do you let people suffer? With one tiny drop of your power, I could walk up to every hospital in the city and command them to come forth healed in the name of Your Son!”

God’s answer was a strong and firm voice, “I long to give gifts to men more than men long to receive gifts from me, but I don’t want to give men a gift that I will have to judge them for later. You, John, could not handle the adoration of man that would come with what you ask.”

After learning this, I began to wonder what could have brought a judgment from the Courts of Heaven that could remove a man at such an early age when he had seen God face-to-face. Then I heard about his miraculous trip to Jerusalem.

Second

One week before John was to leave to guide a group trip to Israel, his business partner in charge of finances and travel arrangements left town and took all the money the people paid for their trip. John felt God wanted him to do the responsible thing and make good on the promise that was given to the twenty-two people who had trusted him, so he took out a personal loan for $50,000 to pay for the intended trip.

When the incident occurred, this represented more than three times his annual income, and it took a toll on John’s attitude during the Jerusalem visit. He was irritable and not acting in a very godly manner. That night two angels appeared beside his bed. Each angel grabbed one of his arms as they said, “The Lord has need of you, come with us.”

John looked back over his shoulder as he was being hauled bodily from the room. It was clear that while his wife was asleep on the bed, his body was not beside hers. This was not an out-of-body-experience. This was actually happening to his physical body.

The two angels took him through the hotel wall, and time and space bent around John, as it seemed like they were traveling hundreds of miles per hour. With a thud, he landed on a street paved with stones. The first thing that hit him was the smell. John had only been queasy once in his life, but the intense odor of animals and their feces mixed with the overpowering human body odor was enough to gag him—he thought he surely would die from the stench alone.

Gone were the pajamas he was wearing; now John was dressed in robes that reached down to his sandaled feet. A corded belt held the garment together. He recognized instantly that he was on Market Street in Jerusalem in the time of David. Somehow, he also knew he had to proceed along one side of the street and share three important messages with everyone he met: that Saul’s reign would soon end, that David would be the next king, and that David would restore Israel to greatness again.

To the first person he met he relayed what God had told him. Even though his thoughts were in English, he spoke in Hebrew. When the person responded, John heard it in Hebrew, but was able to understand what they were saying in English. He received many types of answers. Some said, “Yes, yes, we know, Saul killed thousands, and David killed tens of thousands” or “long live King David!” Some people asked if he was a prophet and wanted to talk to him, but he quickly excused himself and got on with the job God assigned to him.

As he made his way from person to person, John’s distracted thoughts ran wild. “How will I support myself here?” He thought how he might be a carpenter, but wondered if they even had saws yet? Then he worried over what his wife would do and how she might never be able to collect life insurance. “How will she support herself?” The notion that he’d end up being known as “that pastor who deserted the tour group in Israel in the middle of the night” also contributed to John’s heightened anxiety.

While all this went through his head, he did what he knew was his job from God. As he neared the end of the street, a small auburn-haired young man appeared across the way. A golden glow extended several inches around him. The young man seemed to motion to him, “Come here!”

John looked around and quickly realized that the soon-to-be-king was addressing him. David approached him and they met in the middle of the street where a cart being pulled by a donkey passed them by. David stood less than five-feet-tall, was slight of build, had wavy hair, and a pleasing face that would be the envy of any male model.

David took John’s hands in his own child-size hands and said, “I know who you are and I know why you are here and I will see you again.”

When the future king released him from his grip, John again was whisked away through time and space. Once more he found himself back on his bed in his pajamas, bouncing with the force of an abrupt landing. His wife woke mumbling, “Do you feel the presence of God here? It is so strong!” [Implication being that no significant time, as humans measure it, had transpired from the time John left his bed until he returned to it.]

The next morning, John reluctantly shared what happened with his tour group. He said they looked at him in fear as if he was a cult leader. Their tour guide arrived a short time later. He was very excited and insistent, “There is a brand-new exhibit, first time ever to be seen here in Jerusalem. We must go.”

The tour group expressed enthusiasm. Rather than the planned visit to the ancient Holy Land city of Magdala, John reluctantly agreed to do as the group wanted even though he had seen enough of Jerusalem the night before. The new exhibit was the recently unearthed Market Street from the time of David—it looked exactly as John had described it. It was then that the group became convinced his trip through space and time was real.

When God Moves We Must Understand!

After John described this event on the television show some time later, he admitted that he still didn’t fully understand the purpose of this trip or why God sent him back in time to Old Jerusalem. To me, the meaning was easy to comprehend. What I didn’t realize was why the meaning was made transparent to me, even while John was telling the story.

Over the next few days, I shared information verbatim with three people about the reason for the trip to David’s Jerusalem, just as I had discovered each piece. I asked if they knew what God was trying to tell John. None of them had any idea. This is when I realized it was wisdom from the Holy Spirit that brought the purpose of this experience to me. This was the beginning of the gift of dream interpretation from the Holy Spirit.

Purpose:

John struggled with how to financially achieve what God assigned him to do after his business partner pilfered company funds. God gave John a very powerful example of His provision:

He took John to somewhere he couldn’t get to by his own means: Jerusalem in David’s time.

He miraculously provided for John while doing God’s work: He spoke and understood Hebrew and was appropriately clothed for the assignment.

After the job was over, God provided for John by giving him the proof he needed to convince the group of his adventure, and by launching a lucrative ministry that alleviated any further worries John might harbor about whether he could provide for his family.

God had stepped into John’s life in a powerful way to give him a living parable: an example that he should have applied to his entire life. The final revelation as to why he was judged became clearer to me as I looked further into his ministry.

Third

I began looking for more information about dream interpretation from John’s ministry. I saw an episode on YouTube, where John received advice from another pastor. He encouraged him to train others in dream interpretation so what he was doing wouldn’t be lost when he died. John made an agreement with God: if God would show him how to teach others to do what he did by instinct, then John would train others to interpret dreams from God.

John appeared on many Christian programs, had his own TV show, and had many books published. In addition, he offered classes both online and in person. Sounds like he was doing good work, right? He really was. His work shouldn’t be discounted in any way. However, there was one major issue that caused judgment to come from the throne of God that gave the enemy a chance to take John out.

Here was a man who heard from God regularly and on more than a dozen occasions saw and spoke to angels in human form. He also went to Heaven more than once, and he was transported bodily back in time. John was able to interpret thousands of dreams for others, yet he never understood why God sent him back in time to Old Jerusalem and I believe that cost him his life. Much like the dreams that Joseph interpreted for Pharaoh, it seems simple when it is revealed by the Holy Spirit.

Freely you have received; freely give. (Matt. 10:8 NIV)

Jesus sent out His disciples to do his works with these words. Yet now everything John had that had been given to him by God was for sale, and it was not cheap. Some of the harshest reviews of his books promising to teach dream interpretation stated that not all the necessary information to develop this skill was included in the books. You also had to sign up for classes, each one costing $140. This is not God’s way. I am convinced that charging for these materials resulted in a judgment from the throne of God that allowed Satan to bring an extremely rare cancer to John.

When I discovered that John died on my birthday, I was certain God had revealed the meaning of his trip to Old Jerusalem to me for a reason. It was only weeks later that God downloaded the contents of this book to me in a prayer session with Him that lasted from 11 p.m. to 4 a.m. Knowing why John was taken from the Earth at the relatively young age of sixty-four was a critical piece to the puzzle.

… From everyone to whom much has been given, much will be required. (Luke 12:48 AMP)

God is just and fair. When God speaks to someone, He gives the enemy equal access if judgment should occur. The more God speaks to a person, the more severe the consequences. Look at Moses as an example:

The Bible tells us that he spoke with God face-to-face, not just in dreams and visions like other prophets. God moved with a lot of power in Moses’ life. Many people think it was because Moses struck a rock in anger instead of just speaking to it that he was no longer allowed to enter the Promised Land. If you look at what Moses said right before he hit the rock, there is more to the story.

Then he and Aaron summoned the people to come and gather at the rock. “Listen, you rebels!” he shouted. “Must we bring you water from this rock?” (Numbers 20:10 NLT)

The word “we” is not in caps. Moses isn’t talking about how God will bring water for the people; he is claiming partial credit for the miracle of bringing the water from the rock. Moses had lost sight of who gave the order for the amazing miracle and by whose power it was being done. When used by God, we must be careful to always point to the source of the miracle.

Even so, the consequence of his anger may seem a bit harsh. All Moses did was misspeak in a single sentence and strike out in anger. However, this one act caused him to lose out on the Promised Land. But as God gave Moses much, He expected him to do exactly what He was told to do.

This is why God only gives people only what they need to move into their destiny. In the case of John, I believe God wanted to use him as an example. John referred to himself as a type of Jonah personality, the Israelite who was reluctant to do what God called him to do.

God knew John’s strengths and weaknesses. God knew that expecting him to give away his information about dreams and visions for free would be hugely challenging to someone who had been such a successful businessman. I believe that God used John’s death every bit as much as he used John’s life. The Holy Spirit revealed what John’s trip meant so we could know that judgment and the severity of each judgment from God is something that is still happening even today.

We should not discount what John brought to us about dreams and visions. Just because a man who is being used by God dies at a relatively young age doesn’t mean we should discredit what God brought to us through them. Yet we should try and learn as much as possible from their life, as well as their death.

Healing ministers from all over the world were praying and believing in faith for him, yet still he died. John taught and brought insight into the authority we have through Jesus, yet he died. John’s death provided a living example: If a judgment exists, nothing else works against it until you take care of it in the Courts of Heaven. Also, it helps to explain why God does not move powerfully and demonstratively in certain people.

Imagine, if you will, this scenario: In Heaven, God is on the judgment seat. The court is called into order. The prosecutor, Satan, steps forward, “Your Majesty, I bring charges against Joe Smith. Three days ago, You, Yourself, spoke to him and said, ‘I am God!’ and since then, Mr. Smith has violated the commandment of using your name in vain as he said, ‘God d*mn’ three times. He has not apologized for this use of Your name. Because of this violation, I demand the right to send (sickness, accident, or attack) against (him or his children); removing the blessing you have given him.”

If you do not know about the judgments of God or the Courts of Heaven, how can you defend yourself? When you don’t show up to defend yourself in court the prosecutor (Satan) automatically wins. God has no choice but to let Satan have access to you or yours.

This is one of the reasons why God doesn’t speak to every person. It wouldn’t be a loving, kind thing to do. It would give the enemy too much power over each person.

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